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Everything Begins Chapter 29
Thrust and parry, strike and block, spin and step and dance. The fight continued for several minutes, and then Frank managed to make contact. The point of his sword barely scratched Kardag’s upper arm, but the Daitya let out a sharp hiss, once more reminding Frank of a serpent. Blood welled up on the pale skin revealed through the cut robes, but the blood was not red; it was black.“You will pay for that, boy! Enough playing around. It is time for you to die!”Kardag’s strikes abruptly increased in speed and accuracy, and Frank was forced backward toward the center of the room as his sword flashed in the candlelight. It was exactly where he did not want to go, but he had no choice. Kardag’s attack was designed to steer him in that direction, and he had no chance to go elsewhere. The strikes were coming too fast.His right foot collided with one of the unconscious villagers, and he stumbled briefly before regaining his balance. It was enough, however, and the pain that filled him when
Everything Begins Chapter 30
"Bride of a troll!” he muttered as he stuck his finger in his mouth, tasting ash mixed with blood. “Nothing like a sliced finger to start the day off right.” He picked up the sword and walked toward the door, breathing easier when he made it outside. When he got back to the room, neither Tero nor Sophyra had moved, and he carefully cleaned the sword, although there did not seem to be any blood on it, only a light dusting of dark gray ash, and slid it into its scabbard on Ga’briyel’s hip. As he did so, he pulled on the coat covering Ga’briyel’s chest, and it fell to the floor.“Tero, look!”The two men gaped at what they saw. The wound was already starting to heal. Before their eyes, the rotting flesh grew pink and healthy, and the gaping cut slowly came together, starting at both ends and moving toward the middle.“Yisu be praised,” Tero whispered, and then he spoke louder. “Sophyra, wake up! You have to see this!”Her head snapped up, and she looked around the room in confusion. Dint
Everything Begins Chapter 31
"I can tell him what?” Frank asked as he held a chair for Sophyra. She sat down with a small smile on her face, and he took the chair next to her.“What your abilities allow you to do,” Dinton said as he pushed the platter of food toward his friend.“Why do you ask, innkeeper?”Frank waited until Sophyra had filled her plate, and then he pushed his own plate aside and pulled the platter to himself.“I hope you two got as much as you wanted, because this will be gone shortly.”“Oh, do not worry about us, my friend,” Tero chuckled. “We are fine.”“Good. So, Hearda, what do you want to know?”The man was looking at everything in the room except Ga’briyel. “I just thought…”“Thought what? Speak, man.”“I thought that you being what you are, good captain, that perhaps you might possibly be able to rid us of our problem across the way.”“What I am? And what is that?”“An Anmah, good sir. The stories say that Anmah can do wondrous things.”Between bites, Frank said, “Well, I do not know abou
Everything Begins Chapter 32
"Sophyra,” he said softly, “please come here.”Her head came up, and he saw tears in her eyes. He caught his breath and swiftly covered the few paces between them. He took her satchel from her and dropped it to the ground before enfolding her in his arms.“I am sorry, my heart,” he said. “I did not mean to yell at you.”She took a shuddering breath, and he held her tighter.“Do you mean that?” she asked timidly.“What?”She leaned back and gazed up at him. “You call me your heart. Do you mean it?”He pushed her bangs off her forehead and smiled. “I do.” He kissed her softly. “I think I love you.”“You think?”He chuckled at the sarcasm. “Yes, I think. I have never been in love before, so I am not sure, but I feel that if you left, my life would have no meaning anymore. You have become my reason for existing, Sophyra. You are my heart.”She sighed, “That is very nice to hear, Ga’briyel.” Her eyes sparkled. “I know that I love you. When I thought you were dead, I wanted to die, too. If
Everything Begins Chapter 33
Two nights later, the four riders sat their horses on the top of a rise overlooking a verdant valley in which was centered a medium-sized town nearly a hundred and fifty leagues northeast of Difeld. From their vantage point, they could see a hundred or so buildings positioned in concentric circles around a town square. The roofs of the buildings of Grama were all red slate tiles, and most of the buildings looked to be made of wood. A few were built with stone, but not many. About three quarters of the buildings were small enough to be personal homes, but the rest seemed to be businesses or official buildings. The homes were situated in the outermost circles with the larger buildings within a lane or two of the square. From their vantage point, Frank could only see one building that was more than a story tall, and it filled almost the entire east side of the square. Cobblestone streets ran between the circles with one broad road cutting them in two, running east and west. Around the to
Everything Begins Chapter 34
“Will you be content then, Frank?”He sighed and ran his intact hand through his hair. When he looked at her again, his eyes had dimmed somewhat. “I do not know,” he said slowly. “Will that be enough? What about all those boys who are not yet thirteen? They have been training to kill for years. Do I kill every male over the age of five? Ten? What of the women and girls and slaves then? Who will take care of them? What will happen to them when their protectors are dead? Will others come and take their revenge on them? Will they starve? Can they fend for themselves? Will I condemn them to a life of Hell if I kill their men? Could I live with myself if I did that?”Sophyra scooted closer to him and took his face in her hands. “They are in Hell now, Frank, believe me, and they can take care of themselves. The men do nothing as far as the home is concerned. They only fight and kill and hurt others. That is what they do from the time they are very young.”“So how young is too old to live? C
Everything Begins Chapter 35
“An Asabya slave,” the Debaduta responded just as softly. “He managed to run away from the town, but he is being followed by four men, and they will be here shortly. They will kill him for running away. You must protect him! He is needed!”The last three words were said emphatically, and Frank looked at the Debadutta, surprised to see the spirit’s eyes blazing almost as brightly as his own.“Needed for what?”“For…” the Debaduta said, and then his head snapped up as he gazed upstream. “They are coming.” He slipped behind a large gacha. “I cannot help you. You must protect him yourself.”Frank sensed the evil in the men coming toward them, and he snarled as he covered the distance between himself and the boy in a few strides. The boy jumped to his feet at his approach, crouched to flee, but Frank held out an open hand.“Do not be afraid,” he said quietly. “I will not let them hurt you. Get behind me and stay hidden.”The boy’s eyes went wide, but he immediately did as Frank bid. He scu
Everything Begins Chapter 36
The spirit had not released the boy’s shoulder, and he tightened his grip as they walked. “He must live, Anmah. He will play an important part in what is going to happen.”“How old is he?”“Fifteen.”Frank turned to the Debadutta. “He looks like he is twelve. Or younger, even.”The spirit shrugged. “The Asabya do not care much about feeding their slaves what they need to grow. You will find that most of them are smaller than you expect.”"Sophyra’s not.”“Ah, but she was trained for a very specific purpose. It would not do for her to die of starvation before she could serve that purpose.”Frank snarled and looked down at the boy.“He is brave, Frank, and he will be a strong warrior when he is older, but you must train him.” The spirit spoke without looking at either of them.“Why me?”“There is no one else, and it was destined to be,” Debaduta said simply. “If you had not decided to leave your camp, you would not have been here to save him, and he would have died. That would have been